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Van Gogh Art Techniques

Vincent van Gogh went to live with his Brother Theo in Montmartre, the artists quarter of Paris. His encounter with the artistic movements there had a profound impact on his work ... take a tour of the secrets of Vincents' art.

Read about Surfaces of the Canvas, Perspective Frame, Palette of Dark and Light Colors

Composition and Underdrawing

First Van Gogh had chosen for a center (C), just always around the middle of the painting. And he marked it. Here in the cross of the window in the background of the terrace.

Then he looked strong vertical lines from top to bottom near that center. He drew that lines in warm colors.

And after he looked other vertical lines outside of that center and drew them in cold colors. See the houses to the right and the front-door to the left. So he got depth in his drawing/painting.

To get harmony he looked horizontal lines. And that he did in horizontal groups with small vertical lines, see the windows of the houses to the right and the doors to the left. (one of his secrets about composition !).

To get more intention to the center he drew in the foreground lines in the direction of that center. See the stones in the street (Rembrandt used this method also).

Van gogh discovers in Paris the stippling technique of Neoimpressionism, also called Pointillism, and freely experiments with the style. "What is required in art nowadays," he writes, "is something very much alive, very strong in color, very much intensified."

Van Gogh used for a painting only some tubes. Never all. For his masterpiece, The Seine with the Pont de la Grande Jatte, Van Gogh used :

Prussian blue, emerald green, chrome yellow light and vermillion. He mixed the colors not only with white but more with a painters grey. Made from white, Vandyck brown, may-be some Carmine, the red and blue from the painting.

He made the painting in one rush in a rapid application of paint crossing the center.

Vincent was attempting to create harmony both by intensifying of the colors themselves and by arranging them in their complementary and simultaneous contrasts.

He starts to draw and paint at Brussels. More of his own. Never the less, it was his start. Later Vincent found in 1882 some encouragement from Anton Mauve (1838-88), his cousin by marriage. Mauve had established himself as a successful artist, and from his home in The Hague, supplied Vincent with his first set of watercolors-thus giving Vincent his initial introduction to working in colors. Vincent was a great admirer of Mauve's works and was deeply grateful for any instruction that Mauve was able to provide.

Vincent's relationship with Anton Mauve was a valuable one, though extremely turbulent as well. Vincent was incapable of accepting any form of criticism about his works and, to make matters worse, Mauve strongly disapproved of Vincent's relationship with the prostitute, Sien. Eventually Mauve would break off communications with Vincent altogether.

On the left you see a painting of Mauve. After hard working Vincent made his masterpiece, The Potato Eaters. His Rembrandt. Mauve disliked that painting very much. Too dark, too sad. Even Mauve went to the father of Vincent and said to him it would be better Vincent stops painting. This situation was terribly for Vincent. May-be he never came over it.

The stransformation took place from the sombre tones of Van Gogh's Dutch paintings to the bright color schemes of his Paris works.

On the left you see Van Gogh's Boulevard de Clichy in light tones. The second painting Bridge of Courbevoie, is made by Georges Seurat in 1887.
In Paris, Van Gogh discovered color as well as the diversionist ideas which helped to create the distinctive dashed brushstrokes of his later work. His friend Georges Seurat did influence him.

The Boulevard de Clichy was painted using small dabs of paint: one employing short strokes, the other tiny dots. Here we see the influence of the Neo-impressionism movement. Fleeting, spontaneous glimpses of street scenes were a favorite subject of these painters. He makes use of complementary colors the shadow of the houses. And he has employed a short, quick stroke.

What you see in The Boulevard de Clichy painting :

light parts concentrated (not as thick as before),
shadows in complementary colors,
a play of colors,
still the use of a limited number of colors.

The most striking aspects of this work are the bright patches of contrasting color, the thickly applied paint and the odd perspective. The rear wall appears strangely angled. This is not a mistake: this corner of the Yellow House was, in fact, slightly skewed. The simple interior and bright colors were meant to convey notions of rest and sleep, both literally and figuratively.

What you see in The Bedroom:

bright patches of contrasting color (as thick as in his Nuenen period),
no shadows in complementary colors,
and the use of a lot of colors.

Impression: light and bright and colorful

Gauguin made his shadow still by using painters grey and not by using complementary colors!
What do you like most? I like both.

Wheatfield with Crows is one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings and probably the one most subject to speculation. It was executed in July 1890, in the last weeks of his life. Many have claimed it was his last work, seeing the dramatic, cloudy sky filled with crows and the cut-off path as obvious portents of his coming end. However, since no letters are known from the period immediately preceding his death, we can only guess what his final work might really have been. Some scholars believe it was the Tree-roots, but we have no proof that this was the case.

Vincent was quite depressed during the last weeks of his life. He worried about his brother's financial situation and his own future. He was continually afraid of suffering another bout of his illness and, despite some recognition, felt he had failed as an artist.

On 27 July Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died two days later, with Theo at his side. A number of his artist-friends attended the funeral; others wrote letters of condolence to Theo. Theo himself died a half a year later, on January 25, 1891. His grave is now located next to his brother's, in Auvers-sur-Oise.